At least 9 homeless after Bayonne fire

A fire tore through a two-story Bayonne home early yesterday morning, displacing at least nine people.

Kennedy Boulevard resident Nancie Drayton said she looked outside her window at the home next door, 444 Kennedy Blvd., at about 9 a.m. and saw smoke pouring out of the home.

Smoke soon engulfed the neighborhood.

"The whole block was just filled with smoke," said Terri Leck, another neighbor."Then I heard people yelling, 'Get out! Get out!' And flames were shooting out of the first floor," Leck said.

The fire spread throughout the first and second floors and the porch of the gray-colored home, said Celila Sagla, who lives on the second floor of the burned-out home.

At least five fire engines and multiple emergency vehicles were on the scene in front of the house, near the intersection of 16th Street and Kennedy Boulevard. Police cordoned off the entire block while firefighters doused the flames.

Sagla, 43, stood across the street looking at her second-story apartment around 10:15 a.m. while firefighters were investigating the area after the fire was extinguished. The first and second floors were charred and blackened, and the windows were broken.

Sagla said she dropped her four kids off at school earlier this morning and was alone in the house with her mother-in-law when she saw the smoke. Wearing a sweatshirt borrowed from a neighbor, Sagla said the only things she could grab from her apartment on her way out were her cellphone and laptop.

"I'm saying to myself, 'I really have to start over,'" Sagla said. "Thank god we were saved, but I don't know how my kids are going to react after school."

Sagla said she and her family will most likely stay in a nearby hotel because the home appears uninhabitable.

One of the people who lived on the first floor, who asked not to be identified, said four family members lived on the first floor, and a single man lived in the attic apartment.

Bayonne Police were not immediately available for comment.

Drayton said the neighborhood is a very tight-knit community and neighbors were sure to help the displaced families with clothes and more.

"If they need help, or clothes, I'll be there," Drayton said. "That is what a neighborhood is about. A community stands together."